Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2000
The senior national team, the
Black Stars, made an impressive start in their 2002 World Cup campaign when
they stunned the Leone Stars 5-0 in their first group B match played at the
Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday.
The match originally scheduled for
Freetown, Sierra Leone, had to be moved to Accra because of the political
upheaval in that country.
The score line is the highest in
recent times after the Stars 5-1 demolishing of Eritrea last year during the
2000 Africa Cup of nations qualifier at the Accra Stadium.
Two first cap players, Charles
Amoah of Switzerland and Ishmael Addo of Accra Hearts of Oak, announced their
presence with two goals and a goal respectively.
Amoah who paired with German-based
Otto Addo in attack brought the fans onto their feet with a 13th minute strike
into the far right corner of the net after he had jumped to control a Jacob
Nettey's freekick into the penalty area.
The first goal not withstanding,
the Stars were not impressive, recording a number of faulty passes and could
hardly penetrate the vital area of the visitors.
But the inclusion of Turkish-based
Yaw Preko coupled with a numerical advantage following the expulsion of Sierra
Leonean defender Mansaray Mohamed in the 54th minute for a second bookable
offence enhanced the Stars play.
Six minutes after the red card
incident, Amoah latched onto skipper Charles Akunnor's through ball and shot
into the net for his second goal in his first appearance.
Then on, the Stars increased the
tempo of their play, with Stephen Appiah and Emmanuel Osei Kuffour being more
offensive minded in midfield.
Akunnor increased the tally to
three in the 67th minute from a freekick while Preko scored the fourth, from a
beautiful pullout by Emmanuel Osei Kuffour.
Ishmael Addo, a graduate of last year's national under-17 side, the Black
Starlets, scored his first for the senior team and the fifth goal in today's
match in the 88th minute after coming on for Emmanuel Duah in the 66th minute.
Line up (Ghana): Richard Kingston,
George Blay, Jacob Nettey, Sam Johnson, Samuel Osei Kuffour, Stephen Appiah,
Emmanuel Duah/Ishmael Addo, Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, Charles Amoah/Mark Edusei,
Charles Akunnor, Otto Addo/Yaw Preko.
GRi.../